Old-age loneliness is a global problem with many members of the scientific community suspecting increased loneliness in the elderly population during COVID-19 and the associated safety measures. Although hypothesized, a direct comparison of loneliness before and during the pandemic is hard to achieve without a survey of loneliness prior to the pandemic. This study provides a direct comparison of reported loneliness before and during the pandemic using 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) on a pre-and a peri-pandemic sample of elderly (60+ years) individuals from Lower Austria, a county of Austria (Europe). Differences on a loneliness index computed from the short De Jong Gierveld scale were found to be significant, evidencing that loneliness in the elderly population had in fact risen slightly during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated safety measures. Although the reported loneliness remained rather low, this result illustrated the effect of the "new normal" under COVID-19. As loneliness is a risk factor for physical and mental illness, this result is important in planning the future handling of the pandemic, as safety measures seem to have a negative impact on loneliness. This work confirms the anticipated increase in loneliness in the elderly population during COVID-19.

This study examines the impact of COVID-19 experience of infection in the individual’s social environment on psychological burden controlling for a broad range of factors using data on an older population (50+ years). Based on the empirical evidence of preexisting studies, it is hypothesized that psychological burden will increase concurrent to the severity of COVID-19 experience (tested positive, hospitalized, and death) independent of the other stressors resulting from the pandemic, such as a subjective sense of uncertainty or financial burden. Data of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in EUROPE, and a European cross-national panel study were used to examine this hypothesis. Besides Chi2 test and Spearman’s rho, a logistic regression model was constructed to test the hypothesized model. The study confirms that there is significantly higher risk for psychological burden by heightened COVID-19 severity in the social environment independent of multiple also significantly influential variables depicting stressors to everyday life of older people during the pandemic. The results point to the importance of multiple factors (social, financial, health, and sociodemographic) which have significantly affected the psychological condition of the individual during the past year. Conclusively, the results illustrate the dilemma that infection and illness in the social circle, as well as countermeasures (social distancing), have negative consequences for our mental health.

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic poses a great challenge for older people both in terms of the severity of the disease and the negative consequences of social distancing. Assumptions about negative effects on the lives of the elderly, affecting dimensions of successful aging (such as the preservation of social relationships), have thus far been hypothetical and have lacked empirical evidence. The aim of this paper is to shed empirical light on the effects of COVID-19 on the everyday life of older people against the background of the concept of successful aging. Design/methodology/approach Data of a standardized, representative telephone survey with residents of Lower Austria, a county of Austria, were used for this secondary analysis. The sample included 521 persons of 60 years of age and older. For this paper, contingency analyses (χ² coefficients, z-tests using Bonferroni correction) and unidimensional correlational analyses were calculated. Findings The empirical data show that successful aging along the three dimensions of successful aging is a challenge in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic – leaving the elderly caught between two fronts. Originality/value The present work focusses on a unique moment in time, describing the changes to the lives of Austrian elderly because of the social distancing measures imposed to protect against the spread of COVID-19. These changes are discussed in the theoretical framework of successful aging.

Previous findings have provided indications that experience of COVID-19 illness of self and other affect mental health unfavorably. However, prior studies do not satisfactorily differentiate according to severity of COVID-19 illness or social proximity, which are both hypothesized to be relevant factors for increased psychological burden. This study provides an in-depth examination of the impact of Covid-19 experience of self and other on mental health, considering illness severity as well as proximity to the infected person (self, close and distant network). It used data on an older population (50+ years) from 28 European countries (n > 40 000 persons) surveyed in summer of 2021 using the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Aside from bivariate analyses, a logistic regression model was computed to test the effects of illness severity by personal proximity over and above other stressors of life in the pandemic. Severity of illness was shown to be a contributor to psychological burden increase with the strongest effects among persons who reported own illness experiences or experiences in the close network. Regression analysis confirmed the impact of severe Covid-19 experience in self, close and distant relations. Moreover, even a less severe course impacted burden unfavorably when experienced in the own person and more distant relations. These results prove troubling. Psychological burden is impacted by infection, with experiences in self or close persons being strongest, while even ‘lighter' experiences in the distant network also have an unfavorable effect, emphasizing the need to gain control of the present pandemic.

Health authorities worldwide address older adults as a risk group for more serious illness and health complications associated with COVID-19, while social gerontologists have warned that addressing older adults as a risk group of COVID-19 bears the risk of reinforcing ageism. This paper empirically explores to what extent older adults perceive themselves as part of a COVID-19 risk group and how these perceptions influence their everyday lives and experiences of age and ageing. This paper draws upon data from a mixed-methods study on older adults' risk perceptions during COVID-19 in Lower Austria, including a representative survey on 521 adults (60+ years) and data from 20 semi-structured interviews. Approximately two-thirds of the respondents consider themselves at risk of COVID-19 and name age, in addition to pre-existing illness, as a contributing factor in this risk perception. Older adults with health constraints, and especially older men, have a higher probability of perceiving risk due to COVID-19. Additionally, older adults report that they experience being ‘suddenly seen as old’ or ‘being put into a box’ during the pandemic, which influenced their experiences and images of ageing. Our study provides insights into how perceived COVID-19 risk affects the everyday lives of older adults. Age-based categorisations of risk contribute to a shift in images of age and ageing, drawing on insecurity and risk, rather than successful and active ageing, to conceptualise later life.

In spite of findings highlighting higher health risk from infection compared to younger people, a certain percentage of older people in Austria still lack a valid vaccination certificate. The current gaps in vaccination coverage in countries such as Austria are likely to be in large part due to vaccination refusal and pose or will pose problems for the health system and consequently for all of society should the initial findings on Omicron coronavirus infectivity prove true. Surprisingly, only a few studies around the globe explicitly address older people's COVID-19 vaccination willingness. The present work therefore intends to contribute to this field by identifying factors associated with the decision for or against a vaccination among the older population in Austria. Data collected between late 2020 and early 2021 via the cross-national panel study Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) are used to perform multinomial logistic regression to analyse differences between COVID-19 vaccination supporters, undecided persons and rejectors. The results show that persons exhibiting a low risk assessment toward COVID-19, less health protection behaviors, lower education and belonging to households with financial burdens are significantly more likely to refuse vaccination or be ambivalent. Although multimorbidity reduces risk of vaccination refusal, poor subjective health was significantly related to a higher risk of refusing vaccination. The results point to the importance of addressing the factors related to refusal. Only by understanding these factors will it be possible to increase vaccination rates and thus minimize other restrictive measures.

Background Due to the increase of dementia diagnoses and individuals interested in monitoring their cognitive status, practical new neuropsychological tests are needed. Tablet-based tests offer a good alternative to traditional paper-pencil tests, as they can be completed remotely and independently. This study assessed two semantic memory tests (verbal and visual memory), in the scope of the creation of a new tablet-based battery-the International Neurocognitive Profil (INCP)-on the influences of demographic variables. Methods In all, 46 cognitively healthy participants who recruited at the memory clinic of the Medical University of Vienna were included in this study. They were asked to complete two tests of semantic memory and implicit learning: Capital Knowledge (CK) using verbal input and Flag Knowledge (FK) using visual input. Performance on the two tests was analysed according to influences of gender and age using two analyses of variance. Post hoc comparisons between age and gender groups were performed. In addition, correlational analyses were computed to assess strengths of association with age, gender and education. Results FK-and CK-based measures were found to be influenced by demographic variables with semantic memory measures being significantly influenced by gender and education while incidental memory measures were influenced by age. Performances differed

Early in the pandemic, researchers were cautioning that COVID-19 and the associated health policy countermeasures would have an increased negative impact on groups that were already vulnerable before the pandemic. One of these groups are older people affected by poverty, who according to official figures make up 13.9% of older population in Austria. Even before the pandemic, their living situation was considered precarious. Not without reason, this group has been identified as a high-risk group of the pandemic, due to their increased likelihood of severe COVID-19 related illness and their limited monetary resources and thus lower chances of coping with the pandemic. Nevertheless, research on this group has remained sparse to date. Therefore, the aim of the study is to focus on older people (60+ years) below the poverty line and to compare them with non-poor individuals. Data from the SHARE (Survey of Health Aging and Retirement in Europe) project is used, combining data from the two SHARE Corona Surveys (summer 2020 and summer 2021) and the SHARE Corona Special Austria Survey (December 2020) to gain the most complete picture of life situation during the pandemic. Results demonstrate that older people in poverty were more likely to report poor subjective health before as well as during the pandemic yet were significantly more likely to refuse vaccination against COVID-19, despite adhering to other measures against the pandemic to the same extent as non-poor people. Restrictions in the health care system affected both groups equally and no significant differences in the frequency of social contacts could be found. However, older people below the poverty line were significantly more likely to rely on social support to obtain necessities during the pandemic and were less likely to use the internet. Together, these results point out that disadvantage exist for the older poor in some but not all areas of life during the pandemic. This paper is aimed at providing first insights into the lives of poor older persons during a taxing time and may perhaps inspire more in-depth study of this particularly understudied population.